Last month, Aylin Ugurlu of Türkiye who works in the International Relations Department at the Turkish Athletics Federation was one of 52 women from 22 countries who travelled to Kenilworth, England, to take part in the second Women in World Athletics Seminar, which was staged by European Athletics and British Athletics. Here is her personal account of the event.
'As a first-time participant, I was not sure what to expect from the three-day seminar but I was definitely excited about the aim of helping women into leadership roles, an issue I believe to be very important in today’s athletic world – and global society as a whole.
For me, the most notable and meaningful parts of the seminar were the system of mentors, which paired new participants like myself with others who attended the previous year’s seminar, workshops on career planning, and discussions on how we can move forward to inspire girls and young women to aspire to leadership roles.
The mentoring system provided three major benefits. First, it allowed the new participants to easily become involved in the activities of the seminar. Second, it provided the opportunity for greater reflection on past events by the mentors. Third, it promoted an accumulation of shared memories and experience, enhanced by the mentors’ reflections, which helped the participants progress further and deeper into the issues.
The participants were divided into six groups of six to nine members. Each group was assigned at least two mentors. My group came up with the name “Janjite”; using the first letters of our home countries. We all had some background in athletics and we enjoyed sharing our knowledge and ideas but the mentors really helped us to view things from multiple perspectives based on their experiences from the previous year.
The highlight of the career planning element was the informative and optimistic presentation by Professor Christine Coupland of Loughborough University. In her very empowering talk, she helped us all recognize what we have now as well as what we need; how to use our strengths and address our weaknesses in developing a personal action plan for our careers.
Professor Coupland also provided insight and practical methods on how to lead people by creating a positive impression and atmosphere. An important part of this new outlook involves a greater understanding of potential barriers so that we are better able to find solutions to overcome them.
The workshop on inspiring girls and young women to consider not just a career in athletics but also to take on leadership roles was, for me, one of the most meaningful messages. The speech by Baroness Sue Campbell, the chairwoman of UK Sport, the country’s elite sport umbrella body, was very powerful. In speaking about leadership and inspiring others, she motivated and encouraged us all to aspire to be the best we can be.
The result for me was – is – a greater sense of empowerment to meet my full potential; obstacles in my path now seem much smaller.
Expressing how much I enjoyed this seminar is difficult; there were so many good ideas and experiences that are still sinking in!
Overall, the components worked very well and formed a cohesive whole that was greater than the sum of the parts. I am sure that our future career potential was expanded by the workshops, the brilliant use of the mentoring system and the time we had to just get to know each other.
If I had to choose one single feature that really stood out for me it would be the opportunity for networking. We shared our stories and exchanged experiences in a way that complimented the programme activities and was good fun. I believe we all got new ideas and opportunities.
I found the seminar incredibly inspirational not only as a woman in the world of sport, but also as a human being – and I made a lot of new friends. I appreciate greatly the efforts and energies devoted by all involved and look forward to the next edition!'
By Aylin Ugurlu